Gurbani Raag Sarang

Sarang is reputed to have acquired its name from the
famous 14th century music theorist, Sarangadeva. The Sarang raga consists of a group of
seven, each of which is combined with some other raga. Today when Sarangg is given as
the raga, it usually means Brindavani-Saranga, a member of the Kafi thata. Performed
during the midday period, its mood is quiet and peaceful. In the Ragmala, Sarang is
listed as a putra (son) of Siri Raga. Sarang is an important raga in the Guru Granth
Sahib and was used extensively by Guru Arjan. However, Guru Nanak, Guru Amar Das, Guru
Ram Das and Guru Tegh Bahadur also composed sabdas to this raga and Guru Angad used it
for some slokas.

Aroh : Sa Re Ma Pa Ni Sa

Avroh : Sa Ni Pa Ma Re, Sa

Pakar : Ni Sa Re, Nfa Re, Pa Nfa Re, Ni Sa

Vadi : Re

Samvadi : Pa

Introduction :

According to Indian Schools of music this raga is a very old, popular, simple and melodious raga.
Its effect is very cool, so it is normally sung at noon time to give to the listeners a cooling
effect. The snake-charmers also use this raga to intoxicate poisonous snakes with its melody. This
raga is sung in many variations e.g.,

Sadh Sarang,

Madhmad Sarang

Bindrabani Sarang

Lankdehan Sarang

Mia ki Sarang,

Gaund Sarang,

Jaldhar Sarang,

Surdasi Sarang,

Nur Sarang,

Samant Sarang

Wadhans Sarang

This raga is mentioned as a son of raga Sri in the Ragamala listed at the end of Guru Granth
Sahib.

The scale and notes of the raga are as follows:

Arohi (ascending scale) - sa re ma pa ni sa

Avrohi (descending scale) - sa ni pa ma re sa

The wadi. (most popular) note is 're' and samvadi (second most popular) note is 'pa'.

This raga is normally sung in the second part of the day i.e., 9 a.m. 12 noon. The season of its
recitation is rainy (varsha) i.e., during July - August. In Guru Granth Sahib it has hymns from
pages 1197 - 1253 ( 57 pages).

The Composers:

The composers of bani (hymns) in this raga are:

Gurus

Guru Nanak Dev

Guru Angad

Guru Amardas

Ramdas

Guru Arjan Dev

Guru Tegh Bahadur

Bhagats:

Kabir

Namdev

Ravidas

Parmanand

Surdas

The structure:

The sequence of the structure of compositions in this raga are:

Gurubani:

Shabads (2, 4, 5padas)

Ashtpadis

Chhant

Var

Bhagatbani:

Shabads (2-5 padas)

Matrix

VISUAL ANALYSIS

Count of the use of Managals:

Complete Mool Mantar = 1 at page 1197

Ik-ongkar Satgur Prasadh = 21

Placement and count of rahau verses:

All shabads of both the Gurus and the Bhagats, and Ashtpadis of the Gurus have numbered rahau verses
placed in the beginning of the first padas of the compositions.